Megarot that totally sucks about your friend, though I don't think Critical Mass is any better. I used to have a blast on it too until people found it more entertaining to smoke weed and drink beer on the ride and piss off drivers. Sure, there are only a hundred or so that do it, but still, that whole hipster crowd isn't my cup-o-tea anyways. The Northshore Critical Mass is a pretty good one, not as large and a bit classier group. I did Crit Mass for years in the city, to many idiots ruined it for me by not caring about cycling.